Did Atiq Ahmed’s vote save UPA government and nuclear deal with US in 2008?

Claim

Rating

Explanation

In 2008, the opposition had brought a no-confidence motion against the Manmohan Singh-led UPA government and the nuclear deal with the US when there was a shortage of 44 seats after India’s Left Front withdrew its support in protest against the nuclear deal. The UPA government called upon the support of the Samajwadi Party and two other parties to survive the confidence vote.

Both Congress and the opposition parties summoned MPs who are ill and even from prison to take part in the trust vote as it was crucial. And UPA government received 275 votes with 256 against,  surviving a vote of confidence over a nuclear deal.

Gangster-turned-politician Atiq Ahmed and his brother Asharaf were shot dead when they were taken to hospital for a medical examination by police in the Umesh Pal murder case on 15, April 2023. The incident was captured on camera and the videos are viral on social media creating multiple debates.

Meanwhile, multiple news media reports claim that Atiq Ahmed’s key vote in 2008 saved the UPA government and India’s civil nuclear deal the US when Manmohan Singh, the then Prime Minister was short 44 votes for a simple majority to overcome the crisis of confidence. This piece of claim is reported by multiple media outlets including the Press Trust of India, Economic Times and The Telegraph. All these reports quote the book “Baahubalis of Indian Politics: From Bullet to Ballot” as their source.

What is the truth?

When searching with the relevant details we found that the claim that Atiq Ahmed voted in favour of the UPA government thus saving them in proving the majority is false.

We found a tweet from Journalist Aarish Chabbra dated 17, April 2023 denying the claim.

Did gangster-politician Atiq Ahmed's vote in 2008 save Manmohan Singh-UPA govt? A lot of media houses are saying that. In the world of curation journalism, one is quoting another who has quoted yet another, and so on… But what really happened? Here are the facts. Thread: 1/6 pic.twitter.com/fkiPokjWx7

— Aarish Chhabra • ਆਰਿਸ਼ ਛਾਬੜਾ (@aarishc) April 17, 2023

The Parliament record titled “Further discussion on the motion of confidence in the Council of Minister moved by Dr. Manmohan Singh on the 21st July, 2008”, is found carrying the list of MPs who have voted for and against the UPA government. This record lists Atiq Ahmed under ‘NOES’ denoting that he voted against UPA.

The Samajwadi Party had lent its support to the UPA government mentioning that their ministers would vote in favour of the Congress government. Later the Samawadi party expelled 6 of its MPs from the party including Atiq Ahmed for defying the whip to vote in favour of the UPA government’s confidence motion in the Lok Sabha.

The Hindustan Times article dated 25, July 2008 mentions Jai Prakash (Mohanlalganj), S P Singh Baghel (Jalesar), Raj Narain Budholia (Hamirpur), Afzal Ansari (Ghazipur), Ateq Ahmed (Phulpur) and Munnawar Hussain (Muzaffarnagar) as the MPs expelled from the party. This again proves that Atiq Ahmed did not vote for the Congress government.

Multiple rumours related to Atiq Ahmed and his son are being circulated since the encounter of Atiq Ahmed’s son Asad Ahmed and it further increased after Atiq Ahmed is shot dead. Youturn fact-checked the claims and published articles on the same.

Read More: Atiq’s murderers indeed chant ‘Jai Shri Ram’ slogans but it is falsely claimed otherwise.

Maulana Rabey Hasani Nadwi’s funeral procession video falsely claimed as Asad Ahmed’s.

Conclusion

It is found that Atiq Ahmed’s vote in the 2008 confidence vote did not save the UPA government and the nuclear deal with the US as he voted against UPA.